Operation Six Letter
by AmbyrRose
Summary: Tori witnesses a murder and runs away, leaving only six letters behind. While André sets out to look for her, her friends start trying to piece together what she saw.  Suggestions needed, rating may change.
1. Preface

**Intro**

Hey, I got the bones of a new story idea, but I need a little help fattening it up. I'll update this part when I get farther along, but I need you people's help to figure out the details. I'll tell you what I've come up with so far, and you guys can add on, either with PM or a review, and then I'll start writing, adding credit where credit is due. Any area with a (?) means suggestions are welcome here especially. Ready? Here's what I've got:

**Tori witnessed the murder of Sinjin by someone she knows – and more importantly, who knows her. She realizes that (s)he will know exactly who to threaten to keep Tori quiet and therefore, by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, she has put everyone she loves in danger. As witness protection would be useless when the killer knows all her friends, she decides instead to run away. She leaves six letters – one to Beck, Jade, Cat, Robbie, Trina (and her parents) and André – and she jumps on the first train she sees, headed for an unknown destination (?).**

**Meanwhile, the next day at school, cops show up as André and the gang are wondering where Tori is. They show a photo of Sinjin and a photo of Tori, asking if they'd seen either of them. They ask about Tori, and the officer in question reveals that they found a bracelet of hers that places her close to the scene, making her a possible material witness. They go to their lockers during break and find the letters, opening them one by one (André's is already written, Beck's half-formed; the rest are open for suggestions).**

**At first they just seem like goodbye notes, but each contain something – a false memory, a deliberate mistake, anything (?). In fact, each contains a clue about either what she saw or where she's headed. André's, however, makes up his mind. As the police start their investigation, they withhold the letters and start a mini-investigation of their own, nicknamed by Cat Operation Six Letter. While André starts chasing after Tori, retracing her steps after she ran, Jade, Beck, Cat, Trina and Robbie all start trying to figure out exactly what she saw . . .**

And that's about as far as I've gotten without ruining the whole story. PLEASE comment! I need SUGGESTIONS!


	2. Regret

Regret

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._

She didn't want to do this. She could already imagine their faces. But she had no other choice.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._

She wanted to beg forgiveness on her knees from each person she was hurting, but it wouldn't do anything. She knew what she'd seen. _They_ knew she'd seen it. There was really only one thing to do: get out while she could. In one stupid moment of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, she'd exposed her friends, family, everyone she loved to horrible danger.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._

Six letters. She'd written six letters, six clues to anyone stubborn enough to want to come after her. Jade, Beck, Cat, Robbie and Rex, Trina and her parents . . . André. As she was running, she'd actually ended up on his driveway, blinded by tears and shaking. Her fingers caressed the doorbell . . . and she turned and kept running. She wouldn't put him in that kind of danger. This was for her alone to face.

She was crying as she drove away.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._

She ditched her car in the parking lot by the station. They knew it by now. It was too risky. She had a backpack full of clothes, a hairbrush, her phone, some money, her dad's pocketknife (could never be too careful), a Hollywood Arts yearbook, a photo album of her friends, and of course a toothbrush. And buried at the very bottom of the bag, although she would never admit it to anyone, a grimy, careworn stuffed rabbit named Snow, although she more resembled an Ash by now. She needed some comfort. It was all she had left in the world.

The gravel crunched under her boots, the sound echoing in the silent night. The chain-link fence didn't even have barbed wire; she threw her backpack over with ease and clambered after it. She'd never been on this side of the fence, and it was slightly unnerving. For a moment, raw panic consumed her, the absolute terror of being seventeen and on the run threatening to choke her – or at least make her sick. But she swallowed it, pressing against her heart in a vain attempt to slow it. She didn't have a choice at this point.

A thunderous whistle made her look up. The train was taking off, slowly chugging toward top speed. She stepped back from the tracks hastily, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. The driver didn't seem to notice her as it picked up speed, and she started jogging beside it, first slowly, and then faster as she found what she was looking for: an open platform. With one last sprint she threw herself inside, landing with a heavy _thud_ on the rough wooden floor. Wincing and effectively crushed by her backpack, she struggled to her knees, brushing hair from her face. Her jeans were now almost frayed through at the knees, but she'd made it, and with any luck nobody would be checking each car at this time of night.

"Well, here's something you don't see every night."

Tori had to stuff her knuckles in her mouth to keep from screaming. She wasn't alone in the car. There were two other men in the car, ragged and grimy with matching thick beards. One had a trash bag of possessions on a crate beside him, the other propping a bedroll behind his back. Homeless.

Like her.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm, combing her fingers through her hair and sitting up a little straighter. They were both against the same wall, so she crawled to the opposite wall and sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She hadn't thought to bring a blanket. It was going to get cold soon.

"What's your story, kid?" the one who had spoken first asked. He seemed pretty okay, but she was glad she had the knife in her pocket all the same.

"Getting out of here," she said shortly, staring at the wood floor in front of her and swaying slightly with the train.

The other man whistled. "Wow. You got guts, I'll give you that. What you running from?"

She shook her head for a moment, silent. "Doesn't matter," she said finally, not lifting her eyes.

He snorted. "Does it ever?" Without another world, he stretched out and rolled over. Within a few minutes he was snoring.

Tori waited until the other one was snoring too before breaking down in soundless tears.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._

**. . .**

**Any suggestions for where she's going? Thanks!**


	3. Disbelief

**AN: Sorry it took so long, cRaZy writer's block and a couple of other ideas that turned out to be more taxing than I thought. Hope it's worth the wait - promise it'll pick up speed after this. Please review with any suggestions!**

...

**Disbelief**

**1 MISSED CALL: André**  
**1 NEW MESSAGE: André**

Yo, Tor, wats up? U sick?

**2 MISSED CALLS: André**  
**2 NEW MESSAGES: André**

Tori? U there?

**4 NEW MESSAGES: André**

TOOORRIIIII  
Ur freakin me out here

"Dude, the word 'obsession' comes to mind," Jade said, giving him an incredulous look as he lifted the phone to his ear.

"Shut up," he muttered as Tori's answering machine picked up. "Hey – um, Tori! Hey! Yeah, look . . ." He turned away from the questioning stares of his friends. "Um, I'm sorry I'm, like, totally obsessing over this, but I . . . I don't know . . . you're, like, never sick, so – so call me, okay? I kinda got a bad feeling about this, so . . . yeah." He hung up, cursing himself for sounding like such an idiot. He could practically hear Tori's laughter now. _Silly André, what did you think happened? I was kidnapped by flying monkeys?_

Stupid.

He turned around to find the entire acting class staring at him. "When you're ready, André," Sikowitz said tartly.

André flushed, snapping the phone shut. "Sorry, Sikowitz," he muttered, shoving it in his pocket. Crap.

"As I was saying," Sikowitz continued, but paused. "Where's Toro?"

"Tori," Cat called from behind her Sky Store magazine.

"She's not here today," Jade said smugly, casting a glance to the empty seat between Beck and André. "Looks like Little Miss Sunshine caught a cold."

André glared at her.

"Sinjin's not here either," said the pale, redhead special effects junkie, his eyes on Jade in a way that made her pull a little closer to Beck. "He said he would be. I brought in John Adams's second cousin's molar and everything."

"Can I see it?" Rex asked.

"Rex!" Robbie spluttered as everyone stared.

"Yes . . . well . . ." Sikowitz flipped open his lesson plan, putting on a pair of spectacularly orange and pink glasses. "For today's lesson –"

"Mr. Sikowitz?"

The entire class turned around. Two police officers were standing at the back of the classroom, their faces grim. Something in the atmosphere changed subtly; Cat shrank back in her seat with a soft noise, shivering slightly. An icy finger slipped down André's spine. The last time he had that feeling, his grandpa hadn't come home. The next day his grandma had lost her mind.

Sikowitz, however, remained calm. "Can I help you, officers?"

One of the officers held up a photo. "First off, can I ask the entire class if any of you know this girl or have seen her in the past twenty-four hours?"

Every joint in André's body melted. His stomach turned to lead and dropped straight through the floor. Blood roared in his ears, drowning out all other sound. But through all that he still managed to say one word.

"Tori."

"What happened?" Cat asked nervously.

"You know her?" the second officer asked.

"Yeah, she's our friend," Cat said, fidgeting and not meeting their gazes. She obviously felt whatever André had. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

The officers shifted their attention back to Sikowitz. "Sir, if we could speak with you in private?" Sikowitz followed them. The _click_ of the door closing behind them echoed through the entire room.

"What was that all about?" Jade asked, narrowing her eyes. She sounded annoyed, but André saw her wind her arms through Beck's. Beck tipped his head against hers, and she took a deep breath.

"I don't like this," Robbie muttered. "It doesn't feel right."

"I always said Cheekbones was bad news," Rex said, shaking his head. Jade smacked him, and he flew to the floor.

"Jade!"

"Well, keep him quiet," she snapped, rubbing her temples. Cat whimpered. André patted her back.

"Don't worry, Lil Red, I'm sure there's an explanation." _Whether we want to hear the explanation is another story_, he thought, but didn't say.

It seemed like an eternity before Sikowitz came back into the classroom, this time alone. As he turned around, André saw what scared him more than anything else. Sikowitz had tears in his eyes.

"Class," he said heavily, sitting down and meeting each person's eyes. "Something truly terrible has happened."

. . .

"Murdered," Jade said flatly.

Sikowitz nodded.

"Not possible."

"Jade –"

"Who would kill Sinjin? He's like the nicest creep there is!"

The entire class was showing some kind of shock. Jade's eyes were wide, almost panicked, and her knuckles were white around Beck's wrist. Beck was rubbing his temples, squeezing his eyes shut. Robbie's face was totally bloodless, his lower lip trembling. A few girls were crying. André couldn't tell if Cat was one of them. She hadn't picked her head up off her arms since Sikowitz had told them Sinjin's body was discovered in a back alley.

André was silent. Half of him was in numb, deadening shock. The other half was waiting. They still hadn't told anyone why they had shown Tori's picture first.

"How?" someone asked quietly. Sikowitz looked at him.

"Are you sure you really want to know?" There was a scattering of nods. "All right then. He was shot. Twice. He was killed by the first bullet, though. He didn't suffer."

_Didn't suffer._ Everyone seemed to think that was some sort of consolation prize, that the fact that he died instantly made his death okay. What did his not suffering matter when the end result left everyone suffering?

"How does Tori fit into this?" he asked finally, his voice slightly hoarse.

There was sympathy in Sikowitz's eyes when he looked at André. He didn't want sympathy. He wanted answers. "They found two more bullets in a wall. They missed, but they found this nearby."

He pulled an actual evidence bag from his pocket, given to him by the policemen; a brightly colored woven bracelet. André hissed in a breath, and everyone looked at him. Sikowitz, though, was unsurprised. "Ah, yes, you recognize it?"

"I gave that to her," he breathed, horrorstruck. "I gave that to her for her sixteenth birthday . . ." The day he'd almost kissed her. The day she'd gotten away.

"I know." Sometimes he wondered if SIkowitz's coconut milk really did give him visions. It would explain a lot. "No, she's not dead," he added as people jerked around to stare. "She seems to be on the run. After the marks of her car speeding up, there's no trace of her. She's a material witness, so the police would like to speak with her. If anybody sees her around . . ."

Jade said what they were all thinking. "That's not going to happen. Vega's smarter than that. She'll be halfway across the Mexican border by now."

Cat let out a soft noise from behind her arms. Robbie patted her back awkwardly, and then let out a soft "oof!" as she nearly crushed his midsection in a hug and Rex fell to the floor. "Why was she there to begin with?" she whimpered. "Why wasn't she at _home_?"

"We don't know." The policeman rubbed the back of his neck. André guessed he wasn't the type who liked admitting that. "Another thing we need to ask her when we find her." He looked around at the faces staring back at him. "Look, I know you're all in shock and I know it's hard to hear. Maybe we should take a little break?" He sent a glance at Sikowitz. "Maybe take the day off?"

"Of course, I'll speak to the headmaster." Sikowitz opened the door. "Class dismissed."

They filed out blankly, wandering through the halls. For a lack of anything else to do, André stopped by his locker and opened it to dump his books.

A note, a single piece of grubby paper, fluttered down to rest at his feet. He almost just picked it up and stuffed it back in his locker – things fell out all the time. But then something caught his eye. His name. But it wasn't just his name.

It was Tori's writing.

. . .

**Dun-dun DUN! I've already got most of the notes written, but they're pretty short, so anything you'd like to see in there - let me know!**


	4. Determination

**AN: Thank you all so much for your patience. I'm kind of struggling with this story, so any input is highly valued. I have an idea of who the murderer is/will be, but at this point there's nothing I can't change. Any suggestions are valued, I'll PM you if it seems promising. Thanks so much – enjoy!**

…

**D****eterminatio****n**

They sat around the lunch table, shoulders slumped and faces grim. Tori had always been such a comfortable presence, vital and undermined as air; only really noticeable when gone. As André sat down, he realized he wasn't the only one with a letter. Each of them clutched a folded paper in their hands, each with spiky handwriting scrawled across the front:

_Beck  
Jade  
Robbie  
Cat  
Trina  
André_

They sat in silence for a moment, staring at their own names. "Who wants to go first?" Cat asked finally, toying with the folded edge.

The lines of Beck's throat tightened. "I'll go." With a quick, tense glance over his shoulder as if afraid he was being watched, he unfolded his letter, cleared his throat, and began to read. "'Dear Beck . . .

_I'm sorry I always seemed to get you in trouble with Jade. You've been a really good friend to me and I'm sorry that's how I repaid you. You're a fantastic actor and I wish I could have performed with you again, but at least we'll always have the railroad skit. Keep dancing, keep acting, and always keep Jade safe so she never has to follow me._

"'. . . All my love, Tori," he finished, setting the letter back down on the table. There was another moment of silence. Jade cleared her throat awkwardly and began without preamble.

"'Dear Jade . . .

_I don't think you ever really considered me a friend, but I figured I might as well let you know I didn't hate you. I also wanted to let you know that Beck is all yours. Really. He always has been. I hope you two are happy together and I'm counting on you holding everybody together while I'm gone. You've always been the strong one.  
Your almost friend,  
Tori_

"'PS . . .'" she read, and then trailed off, her eyes narrowing. When it became clear she wasn't going to continue, Robbie unfolded his.

"'Dear Robbie . . .

_I know everyone thinks you're a little off, but I think it's kind of sweet. Remember that, okay? And don't be afraid to go after what really matters. Tell Rex to remember to leave the door open, and the number he wanted was 538-174. I wish I had the opportunity to give it to him in person. Kiss that pretty redheaded girl of yours, the one with green eyes. She knows what I mean._

"'. . . Your friend, Tori'." He let the letter fall to the table, visibly stunned. They seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement, though, that nobody spoke until the letters were done.

"'D-Dear Trina . . .'" Trina gulped.

_I'm sorry. I know we've had our rough times, but you're my sister and you always will be. Even if you did bust me for standing on the roof. Don't touch my room while I'm gone, because who knows, I might come home someday. Tell Mom and Dad I love them so much and wouldn't have left if I didn't have to. Stay strong for them.  
Love,  
Tori_

"'. . . PS, no telling embarrassing stories just because I'm gone'," she choked, dabbing at her eyes with a mascara-stained tissue. Cat patted her back and unfolded hers.

"'Dear Kat . . .

_You're my best friend, even if you can be a little krazie sometimes. I'll miss you so much, especially your "What's that supposed to mean?"s. You've got a gift for making people feel better, so I'm counting on you to make all our friends feel okay. Don't stop laughing, and sing a little more often. You've got a beautiful voice._

"'. . . Hugs and kisses, Tori'," she wavered, brown eyes brimming with tears.

André's hands were shaking. He opened his, took a deep breath . . . and let it out. He stared at the paper, silently stunned.

"What's it say?" Beck asked.

André shook his head and buried his face in his hands. Silence descended, heavier and bleaker than before.

A sniffling sound made Robbie look up. Cat was crying, staring at her letter. "Hey," he said softly, casting his mind around for anything positive. "At . . . At least she's alive, right?"

Cat's voice seemed more hurt than scared. "She spelled my name wrong." Her voice rose to a wail. "She says I'm her best friend and she spelled my name wrong!"

"Keep your voice down!" Jade hissed, glancing around. "And don't take it personally, she spelled 'crazy' pretty wonky too," she added, looking at the letter over Cat's shoulder.

"Does anybody remember a railroad skit?" Beck asked, knitting his brow. "I swear we never did a railroad skit."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Robbie said. "And if I'd met a pretty redhead, you guys would know about it."

"I didn't ask for no number," Rex protested loudly.

"And she never went out on the roof," Trina said, puzzled. "I'd remember busting her for something like that."

"So . . . did she go nuts or something?" Jade asked, staring at the post-script in her letter. "Do you think watching Sinjin –?" Her voice cracked. Beck rubbed her back gently as she fell silent.

André looked down at his note. It crackled slightly as his fingers clenched.

"André Harris?" A police officer had come up behind them. They all jumped; for some unconscious reason, the notes vanished from the table. The officer didn't notice. "You were close to Victoria Vega?"

"Are close," he said automatically. "Sir."

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with us and give a statement."

"About?"

The officer placed a hand on his shoulder. "What kind of a girl she was. Helps us maintain her innocence."

There was a dead silence as the significance sank in. _Innocence_. Was there really any doubt?

Apparently.

"I'll go," he said, standing.

"We'll come too," Cat offered, half-rising from her seat.

"Nah, Lil Red, you stay here." A police station might just put her over the edge. "I'll be fine. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned to the officer. "Could I drive myself to the station?"

The officer considered briefly. "Against protocol, but I could get a man to follow in your car."

That was obviously as good as it got. "Yeah, that'll do."

Looking back, the ride and arrival at the police station was a bit of a blur; he remembered writing something about Tori with numb fingers, but it wasn't nearly enough. No witness statement, no official-looking scrap of paper could convey her low, rippling laugh, or her innate instinct to help anyone no matter what, or her gorgeous, shining hair . . .

"You all right, son?" The officer asked as the pencil lead snapped again.

"M'fine," he mumbled, not looking up.

The officer probably would have said more, but his radio squawked. "Paging all officers on Sinjin van Cleef case."

The officer shot a look at André and subtly shifted away. "Copy."

"Victoria Vega's car has been found. Abandoned lot on the corner of Fifth and Central, by the North railway."

"Copy. On my way – just let me finish up some paperwork." He looked at André, who had stopped writing abruptly. He let go of the transmitter, and André shoved his paper at him.

"There. Done."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I gotta go make sure my friends aren't falling apart," he said, rather coldly. The change in the officer was marked; he stepped back instantly, nodding almost respectfully.

"Of course. Of course, I totally understand why you'd want to . . . Of course."

"I'll see myself out," André said, and bolted. He retrieved his keys and peeled out of the parking lot within five minutes.

He parked two blocks away from Fifth and Central, just in case. He seemed to have beaten the police there, but he had no idea how long it would take them to get there. When he made it to the corner, his heart turned over.

Red convertible. Hollywood Arts bumper sticker. Her favorite sweater in the passenger seat. Tori's car.

It was locked; he tried the door, just in case. She seemed to have taken the key with her, although he knew that wouldn't stop the police from impounding it as evidence. He ran a hand over the chrome under the window, as if it would somehow bring her closer.

_BEEP_.

André jumped, looking around. Across the fence, a train was rolling slowly towards him, following the tracks that stretched on as far as he could see.

_Railroad_.

He almost staggered as understanding hit him hard. He thought for a moment, just long enough to dart back to his car and grab his backpack. And before he could reconsider, he was scrambling over the fence, pulling up a speed-dial number on his phone.

"Hey, man, you coming back soon?"

"Beck," he said rapidly, landing lithely on his feet. "I don't have much time to talk, so you gotta listen, okay?"

"André, you all right?"

"They're clues," he rushed on. "All those mistakes in the letters – they're not mistakes they're clues. Tori wants us to find her, she wants us to know who killed Sinjin. The 'railroad skit' – I just found her car, it's by a railroad. She ditched her car and jumped on a train."

"Are you serious?"

"You get the rest of the group together and start working on those letters, okay? And don't go to the police. There's a reason she didn't, I'm sure of it."

"But – wait, what're you gonna do?"

"I'm going after her," André said grimly. He closed his phone, took a deep breath, and jumped. He landed exactly where he meant to; inside the railway car, quite possibly where Tori had been sitting just hours ago. And as it picked up speed, he closed his eyes and prayed.

…

**Any thoughts or ideas are welcome. Thanks, peoples!**


End file.
